drifted a long way to
southward; in the evening the wind turned to the north-west; course held
N.E. by north.

On the 3rd do. in the morning the wind was blowing from the west; we saw
a good deal of rock-weed floating about and also a number of
cuttle-bones. We therefore turned our course to eastward, and at noon we
saw the mainland of the South-land, extending N.N.W. and S.S.E.; we were
at about 3 miles' distance from it and saw the land extending southward
for 4 miles by estimation, where it was bounded by the horizon. We
sounded here in 25 fathom, fine sandy bottom. It is a treeless, barren
coast with a few sandy dunes, the same as to northward; we were in 29 deg.
16' Southern Latitude, turned our course to north-west, the wind being
W.S.W., but the hollow seas threw us close to the land, so that in the
evening we had to drop anchor at one mile's distance from it; at two
glasses in the first watch our anchor was broken in two, so that we had
to bring out another in great haste.

On the 4th do. in the morning the wind was S.W. by S., still with a very
hollow swell. During the day the wind went round to S.S.W., upon which we
weighed anchor and got under sail before noon. We stood out to sea on a
W.N.W. course in order to get off the lee-shore. At noon we were in 28 deg.
50' S.L., where the land began to fall off one point, to wit North by
west and South by east. In the afternoon the wind went round to the
south, and we shaped our course westward. Towards evening we became aware
of a shoal straight ahead or west of us, at only a musket-shot's
distance, we being in 25 fathom fine sandy bottom. We turned the rudder
and ran off it half a mile to E.S.E., where we came to anchor in 27
fathom fine bottom; from noon till the evening we had been sailing on a
W.N.W. course, and we were now at 5 miles' distance from the mainland. In
the night it fell a dead calm with fine weather and a south-by-east wind.

{Page 59}

On the 5th do. in the morning the wind being S.S.E. with lovely weather,
we weighed anchor and sailed S.S.W. for an hour, at the end of which we
observed more breakers, shallows and islets ahead of us and alongside our
course; the wind then turned more to eastward, so that we could run to
the south and S.S.E. This reef or shoal extended S.S.W. and N.N.E.; along
it we sounded in 27, 28 and 29 fathom sandy bottom; at 11 o'clock in the
forenoon we had lost sight of the mainland; at noon we were in 28 deg. 59' S.
Lat